Tuesday, February 4, 2014

Challenges

johicksflower.co.uk (a very pretty picture)

This month we are talking about challenges. I had to think long and hard about this one as I try hard to rid myself of any challenges as quickly as possible.My challenges are small and easy to deal with. Should I walk or should I drive, should I have dessert or be a good girl and skip it, should I stay home and work or go to a movie? Even I think these challenges are silly so I am thinking what is, or was, a serious challenge in my life and I guess it is life itself. Trying to do all I can to live as long as I can as healthy as I can.I am fussy about what I eat, preferring vegetarian cuisine to anything else. I go to all my doctors at least once a year, maybe twice a year. I have all the usual tests and then every five years the more difficult tests. I am challenged to exercise more so this is definitely a goal this year. I love Nigel Slater and here is a link to his cookbook. You will love it.

Living in France half the year limits the time I see my children and grandchildren. I vow to change that as those times together are the best ever. I was challenged to raise four children, many years as a single parent. I can proudly say, I did a good job.I was challenged to trek in the Himalayas for a month but I did it and will live with the glory of having accomplished an amazing feat for a non athlete like me.

I am sitting in a luxury hotel in Paris and thinking "challenges". I faced those years ago when I decided to get divorced and build a business which would take care of me for the rest of my life. Leadership means facing challenges head on.

Here are a few of my favorite quotes regarding challenges:

“The greater the obstacle, the more glory in overcoming it.” ― Molière

“Happiness is not the absence of problems; it's the ability to deal with them.” ― Steve Maraboli, Life, the Truth, and Being Free“When you do what you love, the seemingly impossible becomes simply challenging, the laborious becomes purposeful resistance, the difficult loses its edge and is trampled by your progress.” ― Steve Maraboli, Life, the Truth, and Being Free

Never confuse someone else's inability to do something with its inability to be done. This has been my mantra and has pushed me to succeed many times.

And now I shall end with this quote.

The biggest challenge after success is shutting up about it.” ― Criss Jami

Find Me Here

I am an American living half the year in the US and half the year in a 12th century village in country France. For many years I owned a very successful table linen company. I had a great career designing and manufacturing linens as well as licensing my name to manufacturers of other products including bedding and towels. I love life and try to live it to its fullest. I have always loved France but only knew Paris and the Cote D'Azur. When a friend asked me to visit her in the Dordoge area of France I jumped at the chance. Details of why I chose to live in France will appear under the sidebar "My Story". I am the proud mother of four and grandmother of eleven. I love dogs and my little white maltese sadly went to the rainbow bridge last year at the age of 16. I will miss her forever......